March 26, 2008

It is indeed an exciting, but sad day here at Single Serve Coffee. Having just reviewed the Clover single serve coffee machine for cafes less than a month ago, it's hard to part ways with the Clover so fast. Parting ways you say? Well, parting ways in a small cafe sort of way. It seems Starbucks has announced it will buy the Clover single serve coffee machine and with it we imagine the ability for competing small cafes that feature the Clover now will become a thing of the past.

Still, the bright side is more micro-roasted small batches of really good coffee could be seeing their way to Starbucks around the globe. In the end, bad for the innovation and difference a Clover could bring to a small coffee shop or cafe, but great for the coffee farmers who focus on single origin or unique coffees probably to be offered to Starbucks Clover drinkers, and most likely profit from Clover's purchase by Starbucks.

Bloggle has a really great article on the subject, along with some great business article links. And of course you can read and join the discussion in the Single Serve Coffee forums. Please write in and tell us when you see or find a Clover at a Starbucks in your area.

March 10, 2008

We've just gotten word about the Cuisinart Two Cup Pod Brewer and one cup brewers. You can get the brewers in either stainless steel or black. They also has a very small footprint, making them perfect for offices, RVs, or apartments. They can also brew two cups at once using coffee pods or one cup with the smaller model.

Approved for commercial use

Uses standard coffee pod (not included)

Brews one cup at-a-time or two cups simultaneously

Brews 8-oz cup of coffee in less than 3 minutes

Illuminated power button Easy-to-fill water reservoir

Auto Shutoff - unit shuts off when water reservoir is empty

Uses any standard size cup or mug (not included

We also had reader Helaine write in about purchasing the new one cup brewer brewer:

I just purchased this great little single serve coffee maker from the Coffee Whiz. It uses pods and makes a wonderful cup of coffee. It is very compact so I'm able to keep it on my desk at work. It comes in silver or black and cost me about $35.

Sounds good to us and the price is definitely right for both models at $32 for the one cup and $40 for the two cup. We'll try and round the one cup and two cup Cuisinart brewers for review soon.

March 5, 2008

We've found an amazing comparison of the Bunn My Cafe and the Cusinart SS-1 single serve coffee pod brewers at the Single Serve Coffee Forums. We really like both of these machines here at Single Serve Coffee, but it's always nice to get a direct comparison. There's lot of interesting temperature and feature comparisons along with insights on longevity of both machines. We've also reviewed both of these machines and you can read our review of the Cuisinart SS-1 and the Bunn My Cafe as well to round our your thoughts on these two single serve coffee makers.

Well, I’ve had my Cuisinart SS-1 for a few weeks and have gotten used to it. On Tuesday my replacement Bunn My Café arrived, a week earlier than Bunn said it would ship, but still over two and a half months after I sent in my old one. In an earlier email I had suggested that the delay might be due to an engineering redesign to fix the leaking water problem that appears to have plagued these units. I don’t know if they did a redesign of the guts, but I did notice that the Bunn button you press to release the pod holder is now rounded and projects out a tad from the housing, making it easier to press. On my old model it was flush. So, they did do SOMETHING. It remains to be seen if this new unit will last.

So, since this crowd loves comparisons and numbers, and since I am a scientist by training, this morning I spent some time doing a side-by-side comparison between the two units. I know this has been done before (and probably better) by others, but this forum has been a wealth of information for me, so here’s my meager contribution back.

February 19, 2008

The Keurig B130 is the most interesting Keurig single serve coffee maker we've reviewed to date. Right up front we want to make sure you know - the Keurig B130 is only available to hotels or similar businesses that want to offer the use of a single cup K Cup brewer to guests, and that's what makes it the most interesting. Getting rid of those terrible small coffee pots in hotels across the country, and having a perfect cup of single serve coffee simple thrills us.

The design is also really interesting. This Keurig brewer is the smallest Keurig available, and the footprint alone makes it perfect for your camp, camping, travel trailer, or at the office on your desk. That's if Keurig ever releases this brewer to the general public and not just hotels.

February 12, 2008

There's a new Melitta One:One single serve coffee pod brewer in town - the Melitta MES5B Javapod Single Serve Coffee Brewer System. It's nice to see Melitta join the rest of the single serve coffee pod world, and offer a brewer with a reduced price and the ability to use any 62mm coffee pod. The machine has been totally redesigned from the earlier Melitta One:One - one of the first coffee pod brewers available in the US, and we think many of the choices in the new design are quite good.

The box design and machine are more straight forward than the earlier One:One

One of the big changes is the ability to use a single pod or use the double pod holder. Also the electronics are a bit different - with brew sizes in the 5, 8, and 14 oz range. We wish they would have gone with 12 oz - on the 14 oz size it's hard to get a really good cup of single serve coffee, but overall these changes are nice additions. The hidden cord storage is nice, and the overall footprint of the machine is on par with other single serve coffee makers, but a bit narrower.

January 24, 2008

Is Clover the best single serve coffee machine? Well - it's certainly the most expensive at just over $11,000, but it really isn't designed for at home use. The Clover makes a single serve cup of coffee using ground coffee beans, and is based around a 4500 watt boiler that can run on 240 volt service. The idea is that an espresso cafe can set these up to run fresh grounds through whenever a customer orders up a coffee, much like how the espresso machine runs. For full details on Clover you can read our earlier article here.

We ventured out to Velouria Espresso in Jamaica Plain, MA to get a cup or two of single serve coffee from the fabled Clover. Our mission was to sample as many coffees we could, before becoming so wired we could barely handle ourselves. Mission accomplished. Because of the unique nature of the Clover single serve coffee machine, Velouria Espresso had a sampler menu of up to 5 different coffees made from the Clover for just $9 bucks. A typical cup of Clover produced coffee will run you around $2.

January 22, 2008

We promised you an unboxing of the Melitta MES5B Javapod Single Pod Coffee Brewer System, and we keep our word. The unit comes packed with very little except what you need to brew a cup of single serve coffee using a coffee pod. We do like the overall design, and the coffee pod holders, along with the brewing chamber are nicely designed.

January 10, 2008

SingleServeEspresso.com has found a single serve coffee machine that will only set you back a modest $11k. Is this the ultimate or best single serve coffee maker? The Clover makes a single serve cup of coffee using ground coffee beans and is based around a 4500 watt boiler that can run on 240 volt service. The idea is that an espresso cafe can set these up to run fresh grounds through whenever a customer orders up a coffee, much like how the espresso machine runs.

January 8, 2008

It's been quite awhile since we've seen any Home Cafe products in the single serve coffee world. It looks as if Mr. Coffee has indeed put out this coffee maker (and yes we've also seen it at Target), but we've never gotten our hands on this single serve coffee machine. Does anyone have any thoughts or impressions? Feedback at Amazon.com and other stores look favorable, so that leads us to believe perhaps this isn't a bad little machine for $49 bucks. We'll see if we can track down one very soon.

Measures 5 by 9 by 7 inches; 1-year limited warranty

On/Off light button

Cord storage

Brews coffee & tea pods 1 or 2 cups at a time

Use ground coffee to make a cup of single serve coffee

Adjustable brew height to fit travel mug as well as a variety of sizes

January 3, 2008

The Melitta MES5B Javapod Single Pod Coffee Brewer System is in the Single Serve Coffee test kitchen, and so far we like what we see. The box design is a little less interesting than the older Melitta One:One, but the double and single coffee pod holders should excite the monster coffee pod drinker within you. We'll have a full unboxing soon.

AO: Personally, I will never give Keurig or Green Mountain another read moreManuel : I'm on the second machine and it is doing the read moreAO: I just happened to find the following on a coffee read moreMelanie McReynolds: Keurig just lost another customer. They had a great concept read moreAO: I would be curious to see how much Kona coffee read more